Excavator



Sept. 2, 1941.

E. T. HUMPHREY V 2,254,742 EXGAVATOR I V Filed Feb. 26, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l 8 Elmer I ZZIiQ DJUQQ p 2, 1941- i.- T. HUMPHREY 2,254,742

' v EXCAVATOR Filed Feb. 26, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet? klli ll ll ll l i w l 7 EXCAVATOR Filed Feb. 26, 1940 4 shqets sheet 4 Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED STATE sv PATENT OFFICE 16 Claims.

This invention ,relates to an excavator for cleaning out a groove or bed beneath a railroad track and facilitating the replacement -.of'ties therein. When a worn or broken tie is-removed from the track its bed is invariably disturbed and is unsuitable, without cleaning and refash ioning, for receiving the new tie. Hitherto this operation has been carried out by hand tools and, what with the necessary removal of considerable ballast at the side or shoulder of the roadbed for the clearance of the tie as it is moved endwise to place, the operation has been v a laborious and time consuming one.

It is the primary object of my invention, therefore, to provide a machine by which the necessary groove or trough and end clearance in the ballast for receiving the new tie may be rapidly and cleanly formed. Another object is to pro vide a machine of this kind which in addition to its function of excavating the bed for the tie, also may be used effectively to pull the new tie into place when the bed is completed, thus further facilitating the general operation of tie replacement.

A further object is to provide a machine for this purpose which may be movably supported upon the track and with means for readily adjusting the excavating mechanism according to "the depth of groove or trough required for the Still another object of the invention is to tie.

provide in a machine of this kind, which includes as the excavator per se an endless chain member which necessarily encircles the rails, an improved means for quickly parting the chain and casting the ends aside onto the ground clear I of the rails so that the machinemay be quickly removed from the track when a train approaches.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed in the course of the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of my machine showing the same on a railroad track in position for the operation of scraping or excavating out a groove for a tie. I Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectionalong the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, this view also indicating in dotted lines the manner in Which the chain when sep arated may be thrown aside clear of the track.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation showing adjacent end portions of the chain with a quickly releasable hook connection therefor.

ing a knock out pin for disconnecting the chain at this point.

5 a view of the knock out pin alone. Fig. 6 1s a fragmentary view similar\tq the extreme lower right hand portion of Fig. 2 showingigI a tie being pulled into place-beneath the re s.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary longitudi- 2211 section substantially along the line '|--l in Fig. 8 is a somewhat diagrammatical perspective view of the release mechanism for throwing out the separated ends of the chain.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view, with certain upright parts in cross section, of one end portion of the chain showing driving means and vertical adjustment means therefor.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side elevation of the chain driving, supporting, and adjusting structure, with certain parts in section.

Referring now more particularly and by reference numerals to the drawings, my invention is seen to comprise a frame or car II which is carried by wheels l2 upon the rails A of the track,

said rails being as usual supported by ties 13 upon the ballast or roadbed C. The car may be pro- I pelled by hand, of course, but preferably is power driven by an engine or power unit D of conventional form and connected to the wheels by any conventional driving mechanism (not shown).

The car fram'e II is generally rectangular in shape as shown a d from medial points of the sides l3 thereof'sgbstantially ,U-shaped'brackets or arms H are igid ly mounted and extended outwardly or laterally. A, pair of these brackets is provided at each side and at their outer ends they rigidly support the spaced, generally upright guide members I5 having channels open- .generally at'20 and made up as here shown of a that the lower reach or portion of the chain 2| may pass transversely beneath the rails A while the upper reach may stand clear above the car i 4 is a plan view of a portion of chain havframe II and the up and down movement of the frames in the brackets M will of course raise and lower the chain relative to the ballast C.

The respective carrier frames l6 at each side of the car are connected by cross bars 23 to move upwardly and downwardly as a unit, and for thus operating the structure I provide one member H at each side with a toothed rack 24 and the adjacent guide members l carry bearings 25 in which is journaled a transversely extending shaft 26 carrying at its ends the gears 21 which mesh with the racks through suitable openings 28 in the guide members. It is evident that rotation of the shaft 26 will then raise and lower the carrier frames and the scraper mechanism 20 as a unit. 1

The shaft 26 may of course be turned by hand for making depth adjustments of the scraper mechanism, but preferably power actuated mechanism as I show herein is used for this purpose. The power unit D has the usual transmission mechanism E embodying a clutch and a reverse gear train separately actuatable by operating arms F and G. A cross panel 29 is supported by end brackets 30 above the car I l, and mounted on this panel are a'clutch lever 3| and reverse lever 32 which are connected by link rods 33 and 34 to the respective arms F and G. These levers are thus convenient to hand of the operator seated on .the seat 35, and he may control the travel of the car as may be desired.

A power take-off shaft 36 is extended from the transmission unit E and at its end enters a gear housing 31 wherein it carries a beveled gear 38. Oppositely faced beveled gears 39 and 40 are carried on a sleeve in the housing 31 and keyed on an upright drive shaft 4| which, at its upper end, enters a housing 42 and carries a worm 43 meshing with a worm gear 44 on the shaft 26. A fork 45 engages the sleeve of the gears and 40 and a hand lever 46 on the panel 29 is connected by a link rod 41 and angular crank 48 to this fork. It is thus possible, by actuating the hand lever 46, to shift the gears 39 and 40 into selective engagement with drive gear 38 and reverse the direction at which the drive shaft 4| is turned by the power unit. The motion of this shaft is transmitted through gears 43 and 44 to the shaft 26 to raise and lower the scraping mechanism 20 accordingly, and of course an intermediate positioning of the hand lever will entirely disengage the reversing gears to maintain the selected adjustment.

The chain 2| is driven by mechanism now to be described. The upper chain sprockets I8 carry at one end the beveled gears 49 and the adjacent ends of one cross bar 23 carry bearings 50 in which is journaled a transversely extended drive shaft 5| with beveled pinions 52 at its ends to mesh with said gears 49. The shaft 5| is actually made in two coaxial end sections 5|a and 5|b which at their adjacent ends enter a housing 53, carried by the adjacent cross bar 23, and are provided within said housing with spaced, oppositely faced beveled gears 54 and 55. A drive pinion 56 is journaled and slidably mounted through a bearing 51 in the housing 53 on an axis substantially at right angles to the drive shaft 5| and outwardly carries a beveled gear 58. A power take-off shaft 59 from the transmission E has an upwardly extensible, ke'yed and telescopically connected extension section 6|! which enters bearings 6| on the end of the housing 53 and carries a beveled gear 62 meshing with the gear 58. This assembly and mechanism is such that the power transmitted through the shaft 59 and extension 60 will, through meshing of the gears 62, 58, 55, and 54-55, drive the shaft sections 5|a and 5H) in opposite directions. The sprockets |8 will thus be properly rotated to cause the chain to travel around the sprockets and beneath the track. The telescopic connection at 59-60 permits the necessary vertical movement as the chain is raised and lowered.

For reversing the direction of travel of the chain the reverse lever 32 may be operated to control the direction of movement of the power take-off shaft 59, and in this operation the clutch lever 3| may of course be disengaged to prevent travel movement of the car. The shaft 59 is thus driven at all times whether the car is moving or not, and to'separately disengage the chain drive mechanism I employ a hand lever 63 mounted on the panel 29 and connected by a link rod 64 to a shifting fork 65 which engages a sleeve 66 slidably carrying the drive pinion 56. By manipulating this lever the pinion 56 may be shifted to engage or disengage the gears 54 and 55 at will.

The chain 2| must obviously be retained in a taut condition while in operation, and for this purpose I prefer to employ a hydraulic or pneumatic jack device 61 which is supported upon a medial portion of the cross bars 23 and carries at its extensible end a journaled roller 68. The actuating lever 69 of the jack is extended out over the panel 29 and by manipulating the lever the roller 68 may be readily forced up beneath the upper span of the chain to tighten the same to the required extent as shown in Fig. 2. The jack may also be quickly collapsed or lowered by the conventional release mechanism.

The lower chain sprockets l9 are carried directly by the side members H in bearings 10 (Fig. 10) thereon, but the upper sprockets H! are mounted between the forked arms II of throwout levers 12. These levers 12 are pivotally mounted at lower ends 13 upon cross pins 14 extended between the side members I! and normally the levers stand in upright position as shown with the forked arms 1| lying between upper ends of the side members and the sprocket drive gears 49 properly meshed with the pinions 52. However, the levers may swing outwardly in vertical, transverse planes and torsional springs 15, coiled around the pins 14, are engaged at their ends at 16 with the levers to urge the same outward in this direction.

The chain 2| as here shown is a wide, heavy duty type and the scrapers 22 are secured thereto in any suitable manner. The chain obviously must be capable of being parted, both for initially feeding it beneath the track and removing it therefrom, and to clear the track so that the car-may be removed when a train approaches. For this purpose the chain at three or more points, designated at 11 in Fig. 2, has hooked links 18, shown in Fig. 3, to releasably engage the pins 79 of the adjacent links so that the chain may be quickly disconnected at any of these points. The release points are all evenly spaced apart so that under any condition one will appear or be at the exposed upper span of the chain for most convenient manipulation. In lieu of the hooked link released, knock-out pins 80 may be provided in the chain and provided with well known types of retaining latches 6| which, when swung aside, permit the pins to be readily removed. Figs. 4 and 5.

This assembly is shown in When the chain is parted or disconnected at any of these release points 71, of course as they appear in the span between the upper sprockets l8, the partedv ends of the chain may be thrown outwardly clear of the car and they will fall to the roadway alongside the track. The chain ends are actually forcefully thrown or cast outward by the levers 12 which, 'when freed by parting of the chain,'will be swung outwardly by action of the springs 15 for this purpose. This operation is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Such forceful casting aside of the chain ends is not required except in the case of emergency or when a train approaches, and the levers I2 are accordingly normally retained in their upright inoperative positions by latches 82 pivotally mounted on cross members 83 extended between the side members ll inwardly, of the levers and which are urged to locking engagement by springs 84. A release lever 85 is connected to a short rock shaft 88 carried in bearings beneath the panel 29 and an arm 81 on the shaft is connected to cables 88 which run outwardly around pulleys 89to points of connection at 90 with the latches. It is thus possible by actuating the lever 85 to pull both latches 82 clear of the levers 12 so that they may swing outward simultaneously when such action is desired. In reconnecting the chain the levers are first swung back by hand to upright positions, and as they come to a stop against the cross members 83 the latches 82 will automatically reengage and latch the levers in position. The chain may then again be connected. The chain drive gears 49 and 52 are of course remeshed when the levers are swung back to position.

Undersome circumstances it may be desirable to prevent the parted ends of the chain from falling to the ground, and for this reason I provide tables 9| which are pivotally mounted by short extension arms 92 in bearings 93 on one member I at each side of the car so that, while normally carried clear of the chain as shown in- Fig, 1, they may be swung outwardly in the horizontal to stand in position to receive and support the chain ends as one is shown to the right and in dotted lines in the same view.

It is of course necessary that the lower, working span of the chain beneath the track be caused to operate in a straight line as nearly as possible, and to this end I provide a hold down frame 94 which is secured by outwardly and upwardly inclined arms 95 to the side members l1 and by upwardly converging arms 96 to the cross. bars 23 to thus move upwardly and downwardly as the chain is adjusted to depth. Rollers 91 are carried in spaced relation by this frame and bear downwardly upon the chain inwardly of the track rails A to prevent upward displacement of the chain as will be evident;

In operation the car may be run over the track to the point where a tie has been removed and it is desired to scrape out a groove or trough for the reception of a new tie. Here the car is stopped and one end of the chain is threaded or fed beneath the track until the ends of the chain may be properly connected and the chain meshed with its sprockets. In this connection it will be noted that the scrapers 22 are provided only over about half the overall length of the chain, and thus a suflicient portion of the chain to be fed first beneath the track is clear of scrapers which might interfere with this operation. This is important from the convenience standpoint, as will be evident.

After connection of the, chain as described, the jack 81 is extended to draw the chain taut and the control lever 53 is operated to engage the drive gears 54-55 and 56 and 'set the chain in motion. The direction of travel of, the chain may be reversed and controlled by lever 32 as described, and the scrapers 22 will thus be carried by the chain beneath the track to engage the ballast C and clear out a clean groove or trough therein as will be understood. The depth of the trough maybe controlled by progressively lowering the chain under control of the lever 48 as has been described.

When the trough has been completed the jack 81 is collapsed to loosenthe chain and it is parted at any of the points 11 for removal from beneath the track. The new tie may be pulled endwise into place as the chain is being removed, as shown in Fig. 6, the end of the chain being connected for this purpose to gripping tongs 98 which engage the tie. The chain may be retained in engagement with one drive sprocket, during this operation, and the tie will be pulled easily beneath the rails into its prepared position.

The scrapers 22 may be of any desired form and shape and are here shown as made up of alternating slightly bent blades or spades 99 and marginally toothedgrousers I00. Thesescrapers of course are effective when pulled by the chain in either direction.

It is thought that further details and advantageous features of the operation of my invention will be understood without additional description herein.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, promeans for forcefully casting the'parted ends of:

the chain outwardly alongside the rails.

2. A machine for clearing out a transverse trough beneath railway rails for the reception of a tie therein, comprising a frame supported over the rails, a normally endless chain supported transversely over the frame and extending at a lower span beneath the rails, scraping tools carried by the chain, means for actuating the chain to progressively 'carry the tools beneath the rails in a crosswise direction and scrape out a trough in the ballast, means for parting the chain at some point in the portion over the frame, and means for mechanically throwing the upper parted ends of the chain outwardly clear of the rails;

3. A machine for" clearing out a transverse trough beneath railway rails for the reception of a tie therein, comprising a frame supported over the rails, ,a normally endless chain supported transversely over the frame and extending at a lowerspan beneath the rails, scraping tools carried by the chain, means for actuating the chain to progressively carry the tools beneath the rails in a crosswise direction and scrape out a trough in the ballast, means for parting the chain for removal from the rails, and means for connection to one end of the parted chain and engagement with a tie to drag the tie endwise into the prepared trough.

4. A machine for scraping a trough beneath railway rails for the reception of a tie, comprising a wheeled frame for travel movement on the rails, bracket arms extending outwardly from the frame, carrier frames slidably mounted for up and down movement with re spect to the bracket arms in planes outwardly of the rails, sprockets carried at upper and lower ends of the carrier frames, a chain trained over the sprockets and passing at a lower portion crosswise beneath the rails, scraping tools carried by the chain, a power unit carried by the frame and operative to cause travel movement thereof, separate clutch and reversing means for controlling the travel movement, and power actuated mechanism responsive to said reversing means but independent of the clutch for moving the chain over the sprockets in-either of two directions.

5. A machine for scraping a trough beneath railway rails for the reception of a tie, comprising a wheeled frame for travel movement on the rails, bracket arms extending outwardly from the frame, carrier frames slidably mounted for up and down movement with respect to the bracket arms in planes outwardly of the rails, sprockets carried at upper and lower ends of the carrier frames, a. chain trained over the sprockets and passing at a lower portion crosswise beneath the rails, scraping tools carried by the chain, a power unit carried by the frame and operative to cause travel movement thereof, separate clutch and reversing means for controlling the travel movement, power actuated mechanism responsive to said reversing means but independent of the clutch for moving the chain over the sprockets in either of two directions, and separate means for disengaging said power actuated mechanism from the power unit.

6. A machine for scraping out a trough beneath railway rails to receive a tie, comprising a frame adapted to be supported over the rails, carrier frames supported from the frame at the sides thereof in generally upright planes outwardly of the rails, sprockets carried at upper and lower portions of the carrier frames, a chain trained over the sprockets and at a lower span passed beneath the rails, trough forming means on the chain, gears secured to the upper sprockets at each side of the frame, a drive shaft having independent sectionsjournaled transversely on the frame, pinions at the ends of the shaft for driving the said gears and sprockets, and means for driving the shaft sections in opposite directions.

'7. A machine for scraping out a trough beneath railway rails to receive a tie, comprising a frame adapted to be supported over the rails, carrier frames supported from the frame at the sides thereof in generally upright planes outwardly of the rails, sprockets carried at upper and lower portions of the carrier frames, a chain trained over the sprockets and at a lower span passed beneath the rails, trough forming means on the chain, gears secured to the upper sprockets at each side of the frame, a drive shaft having independent sections journaled transversely on the frame, pinions at the ends of the shaft for driving the said gears and sprockets, gears at inner ends of the shaft sections, and a power driven reversible gear movable into and out of engagement with the said inner gears for driving the shaft sections in opposite directions.

8. A machine for scraping out a trough heneath railway rails to receive a tie, comprising a frame adapted to be supported 'over the rails, carrier frames supported from the frame at the sides thereof in generally upright planes outwardly of the rails, sprockets carried at upper and lower portions of the carrier frames, a chain trained over the sprockets and at a lower span passed'beneath the rails, scraping tools carried by the chain, driving means engaging the upper sprockets for actuating the chain to move the scraping tools crosswise beneath the rails, and the said upper sprockets being movable outwardly out of engagement with their driving means.

9. A device for scraping out the ballast beneath arailway track to receive a tie, comprising a frame adapted to be supported above the track, frame members supported at the sides of the frame outwardly of the track, upper and lower sprockets mounted in the frame members, a chain trained around the sprockets for movement thereon transversely with respect to the track, ballast working tools carried by the chain, driving means for the upper sprockets, levers pivotally connected to the frame members and supporting the upper sprockets, and the said levers being spring setto swing outwardly and carry the sprockets out of engagement with their driving means. l

10. A device for scraping out the ballast beneath a railway track to receive a tie, comprising a frame adapted to be supported above the track, frame members supported at the sides of the frame outwardly of the track, upper and lower sprockets mounted in the frame members, a chain trained around the sprockets for movement thereon transversely with respect to the track, ballast working tools carried by the chain, driving means for the upper sprockets, levers pivotally connected to the frame members and supporting the upper sprockets, the said levers being spring set to swing outwardly and carry the sprockets out of engagement with their driving means, releasable latch means for normally holding the levers against such movement, and means for releasing the levers from. the latch means. 11. A machine for forming a bed beneath a railway track for the reception of a tie, comprising a supporting frame arranged over the track, bracket arms extended outwardly from the frame, carrier frames supported at outer ends of the arms for up and down movement in planes located outward of the track, sprockets carried by the carrier frames, a chain passed around the sprockets for movement transversely at one por tion beneath the track, scraping tools carried by the chain, gear toothed racks on one side of the carrier frames, a shaft journaled transversely on the supporting frame, gears on the ends of the shaft meshing with the racks, a power unit on the supporting frame, means actuated by said power unit for rotating the shaft to thereby raise and lower the chain, means actuated by the power unit for driving the chain around the sprockets, and the said chain driving means including a vertically extensible and adjustable connection to permit up and down adjustment of the chain as it is driven.

12. A machine for clearing out a transverse chain as they are thrown aside from the frame.

13. A machine for clearing out a transverse trough beneath railway rails for the reception of a tie therein, comprising a frame supported over the rails, a chain extending over the frame and downwardly beneath the rails for transverse movement with respect to said rails, scraping tools carried by the chain, means for parting the chain on the portion extending over the frame, a jack device engaging the chain to tighten the same, and the said jack device being releasable to thereby loosen the chain to permit it to be parted and its ends cast aside.

14. A machine for clearing out a transversely extending tie bed beneath a railroad track, comprising a frame, a chain supported by and over said frameand passing at a lower reach beneath the track, tools carried by the chain, means for parting the chain whereby end portions may be thrown outward from the frame, and table members movably supportedfrom the frame at its sides to normally stand alongside the same clear of the chain but movable to. positions in which they may receive and support the ends of the chain.

15. A machine for clearing out a trough beneath a railroad-track for the reception of a tie, comprising a main frame supported above the track, a chain supported over the main frame and passing at a lower reach transversely beneath the track, tools on the chain, carrier frames supported at the sides of the main frame for up and down movements with respect thereto, means on said carrier frames for supporting the end portions of the chain, cross members connecting said carrier frames, a center frame for restraining the said lower reach of the chain against upward movement, and a supporting structure for the said center frame including outwardly extending arms secured to the carrier frames and upwardly extending arms secured to said cross members.

16. A machine for clearing out a trough beneath a railroad track for the reception of a tie, comprising a main frame supported above the track, a chain supported over the main frame and passing at a lower reach transversely ,beneath the track, tools on the chain, carrier frames supported at the sides of the main frame for up and down movements with respect thereto, means on said carrier frames for supporting the end portions of the chain, cross members connecting said carrier frames, a center frame for restraining the said lower reach of the chain against upward movement, and a supporting structure for the said center frame including outwardly extending arms secured to the carrier frames and upwardly extending arms secured to said cross members, the said outwardly extending arms angling upwardly from the center frame to clear the track.

ELMER T. HUMPHREY. 

